What the Papers Say, May 27, 2013

Kommersant

1. Fyodor Maximova and Alexei Sokovnin article headlined "Leaking account opened for Andrei Borodin" says former head of the Bank of Moscow Andrei Borodin may lose a large sum of his money. The Swiss prosecutors, who have opened a criminal case against the former banker and seized his accounts worth 354m franks, may hand over the money to the Bank of Moscow; pp 1, 3 (815 words).

2. St Petersburg-based Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "They want to add more cases to Constitutional Court" says Russian judge in the European Court of Human Rights Dmitry Dedov has spoken for giving the Russian Constitutional Court broader powers to reduce the number of complaints that Russians file to the European court; pp 1-2 (1,138 words).

3. Vadim Visloguzov article headlined "Fly-by-night presumption" says a new bill aimed to fight against fly-by-night companies makes the work of Russian businesses more problematic as tax collectors will get broader powers to block companies' accounts; pp 1, 6 (763 words).

4. Nina Vlasova article headlined "Improbable stories bureau" says a new type of fraud is spreading in Russia, as the companies claiming to be credit bureaus, offer all kind of recommendations to any individuals willing to borrow money from a bank; pp 1, 10 (542 words).

5. Sofia Samokhina and Natalya Gorodetskaya article headlined "State Duma gets ready to renew Audit Chamber" says the State Duma factions have started looking for candidates to form a new Audit Chamber; p 2 (613 words).

6. Maxim Ivanov article headlined "'All of you will be sacked sooner or later'" reports on an NTV show featuring one day of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's work; p 2 (603 words).

7. Maxim Yusin and Angelina Shunina article headlined "Russian secret services start dealing with security of Berlin residents" says the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has improved cooperation with Western secret services following the Boston bombing. The FSB warned the German law-enforcement agencies about a planned terrorist attack during a football match in Berlin; p 3 (461 words).

8. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Viktor But's business partner returns to U.S. against his will" says that a court in New York has refused to release on bail Richard Ammar Chichakli, former partner of Russian businessman Viktor But serving his prison sentence in the U.S.; p 5 (774 words).

9. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "ABM aims at autumn" says the U.S. hopes to reach an agreement with Russia on the European missile defense system at the talks between the two countries' presidents this summer; p 8 (792 words).

10. Sergei Strokan article headlined "Iranian presidential election questioned early" says the US Department of State has found the Iranian presidential election to be undemocratic three weeks before the voting is held; p 8 (630 words).

11. Article by Vladimir Orlov, PIR-center president, in opinion column headlined "Price of issue" criticizes the U.S. stance on Iran and notes that Washington is willing to replace the country's regime rather than stop its nuclear program; p 8 (382 words).

12. Maxim Yusin article headlined "Hezbollah swears oath to Bashar Assad" says Lebanon is being dragged into the Syrian conflict as the leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah group is urging his supporters to help Bashar Assad's regime; p 7 (396 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Army of insurgents grows with 'black widows'" looks at the security situation in Dagestan where an increasing number of female suicide bombers carry out terrorist attacks; pp 1, 6 (712 words).

2. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Law being chosen for patriotic education" says the State Duma is drafting a bill on patriotic education; the Kremlin backs the initiative; pp 1-2 (873 words).

3. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Yanukovych and Putin consider options" reports on a meeting of the Russian and Ukrainian presidents in Sochi to discuss economic cooperation between the two countries; pp 1, 7 (880 words).

4. Igor Naumov article headlined "Russian president promises to accustom monopolies to new diet" says the Kremlin has made a decision to limit the growth of natural monopolies' tariffs. The limits are to be accepted by autumn; pp 1, 4 (745 words).

5. Viktoria Panfilova article headlined "CSTO and NATO agree on Afghan direction" says that on 28 may the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit in Bishkek will discuss NATO troops withdrawal from Afghanistan; pp 1, 7 (804 words).

6. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Britain and France under jihadists' attack" says European governments are becoming increasingly concerned about the risk of new radicals' attacks after a serviceman has been attacked in France; pp 1, 8 (593 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Proof by ABM" says a new radar facility launched in Kaliningrad Region has shown that Russia is serious about protecting its borders from possible missile attacks as the U.S. refuses to sign any binding documents with Russia; p 2 (504 words).

8. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Moscow gays dissolved thrice" says that three rallies of sexual minorities have been dissolved in Moscow. The authorities are turning the issue into a political one making people intolerant of each other; p 3 (670 words).

9. Ivan Rodin report "They have right, but do not want" says that that almost 300 public organizations in Russia can stand in local elections, but prefer not to be in the way of United Russia and the All-Russia People's Front; p 3 (1,100 words).

10. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Kremlin ahead of government and whole country" says the average presidential administration officials' salaries reached 5,000 dollars in the first quarter of 2013. Experts call it a mistake to raise officials' salaries when the country is on the verge of economic recession; p 4 (928 words).

11. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "South Stream starts giving out elephants" says Moscow is offering investment and gas discounts to the countries taking part in the South Stream gas pipeline project, namely, Serbia; p 4 (697 words).

12. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "NATO thinks cold war is in the past" says the international conference on the European security held in Moscow has shown that Russia does not believe the U.S. assurances that their European missile defense system is not targeting Russia; p 8 (872 words).

13. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "Nasrallah calls Lebanese to Syrian front" says Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is to meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry today to discuss the Syrian conflict. Meanwhile, Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah has called on his supporters to help the Syrian regime; p 8 (797 words).

14. Political analyst Alexander Zhebin article "Korean settlement: Looking for solution" looks at the situation on the Korean peninsula and ways out of the crisis; p 9 (900 words).

Vedomosti

1. Margarita Lyutova et al. report headlined "Plans of Federal Service for Financial Markets: Deny and annul" says the Russian Federal Service for Financial Markets is drafting plans for its branches in which it stipulates how many licenses should be canceled and how many fines should be collected; pp 1, 5 (800 words).

2. Alexandra Kreknina article headlined "Shopping without asking for permission" says consumer activity is falling in Russia. Retailers are looking for marketing measures to attract clients; pp 1, 19 (1,034 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Conversation between blind and deaf ones" comments on a recent meeting of Putin with Russian entrepreneurs, which has shown that the head of the state is not going to help businesses; pp 1, 6 (452 words).

4. Another editorial headlined "Syrian exchange" says Russia and the West are bargaining over Syria. Moscow is willing to keep its face in the situation and guarantee security to Bashar Assad; p 6 (293 words).

5. Lilia Biryukova report "Will release by holiday" says that the Russian leadership has not given up an idea to grant amnesty to entrepreneurs. It may be timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the constitution, although the amnesty will not be applied to some categories of convicts; p 3 (700 words).

6. Maria Zheleznova report "Checked: Not agent" says that the Nizhny Novgorod NGO Committee against Tortures has been recognized by the Justice Ministry as a "non-agent"; p 3 (650 words).

7. Roman Dorokhov report "VKontakte switched off by mistake" says that the popular social network VKontakte has been included in a list of banned websites by mistake"; p 17 (600 words).

Izvestia

1. Yegor Sozayev-Guryev and Anastasia Kashevarova article headlined "Akhmed Bilalov moves to Britain" says that former head of the company Resorts of North Caucasus and former vice-president of the Russian Olympic Committee Akhmed Bilalov has been living in the UK for a month now; pp 1, 4 (769 words).

2. Alexei Mikhaylov article headlined "Special tank to be built for Sergei Shoigu" says the Russian Defense Ministry has ordered a special tank to evacuate the minister and top commanders from the zone of nuclear and chemical contamination; pp 1, 4 (457 words).

3. Anastasia Kashevarova and Yelena Teslova article headlined "Officials to be obliged to undergo lie detector tests" says the State Duma is drafting a bill to make all candidates willing to take senior post in the government undergo lie detector tests; pp 1, 4 (649 words).

4. Denis Telmanov report "Dmitry Rogozin sets up council of chief designers" says that Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has instructed the Ministry of Industry and Trade and defense companies to draft measures to restore the status of chief designers working on modern military technology; pp 1, 4 (850 words).

5. Sergei Podosenov article headlined "Prokhorov unites with Right Cause and United Russia in Moscow city duma election" says billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is likely to back United Russia candidates in the upcoming Moscow city duma election; p 2 (598 words).

6. Alexander Grigoryev report "FBI gets interested in experience in fight against terrorism in Caucasus" says that the American special services have discussed with Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev ways to counteract extremism in the U.S.; p 3 (500 words).

7. Dmitry Yevstifeyev report "Investigations Committee will make mobile phones give evidence" says that the Russian Investigations Committee will buy in Israel equipment making it possible to retrieve deleted and protected information from mobile phones; p 4 (1,000 words).

8. Oleg Klimenko interview with Vladimir Andreyev, Russia's consul-general in Simferopol, Ukraine, who has resigned from his post in Crimea after making accusations against ethnic Tatars; p 8 (650 words).

9. Anna Akhmadyeva article headlined "Channel Five becomes really fifth one" says a recent study of ratings of Russian TV channels has shown that Channel Five is the fifth most popular one in the country; p 9 (469 words).

10. Anastasia Dulenkova report "Russian Orthodox Church deprived of juridical person" says that the Federal Tax Service directorate for Moscow has removed the Russian Orthodox Church from the single state register of juridical persons; p 9 (550 words).

Rossyskaya Gazeta

1. Yulia Krivoshapko article headlined "Not to take cash" says the Bank of Russia is to impose restrictions on cash payments in the country. All Russian shops except the smallest ones will be obliged to use credit card terminals; pp 1, 3 (550 words).

2. Yury Gavrilov report "Closing circle" says that a large-scale radar system will be installed across Russia in 4.5 years; p 3 (800 words).

3. Anna Zakatnova article headlined "You only contact party" says the Yabloko party is counting its regional branches and checking information on all members; p 6 (800 words).

4. Olga Dmitryeva report "Where did Woolwich's butchers come from?" looks at the recent terrorist attack in London and at possible causes of the tragedy; p 10 (1,500 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Irina Grigoryeva article headlined "Officials getting richer at expense of public sector employees" slams officials for raising their own salaries and ignoring problems of doctors and teachers; pp 1-2 (600 words).

2. Mikhail Delyagin article headlined "Freedom to Dmitry Medvedev!" reviews "ridiculous" initiatives by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, like summer time and zero alcohol content in the blood of drivers and notes that he is turning into a scapegoat used by Putin; p 3 (1,300 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Leonid Nikitsky article headlined "Amnesty. Suspended" looks at the latest meeting of Putin with Russian entrepreneurs and says that despite being in the know of some entrepreneurs' unfair sentences, the head of state is not going to help them; pp 1-2 (800 words).

2. Yulia Latynina article headlined "Not terrorist attack, but its approval is horrible" criticizes the stance of some Western leftists who claim that social inequality and U.S. aggressive policy urge radicals to become terrorists; p 6 (700 words).

3. Irina Gordyenko article headlined "Who 'loads' women" says that a growing number of bombings in Dagestan can be attributed to attempts by some militant groups to destabilize the situation in the republic ahead of the local elections; p 4 (433 words).

RBK Daily

1. Yevgeny Krasnikov article headlined "VKontakte lesson" says that following a scandal with the social network VKontakte, which has appeared on the register of banned websites by mistake, the Russian Federal Service for Supervision in Telecommunications, Information Technology and Mass Communications has decided to check those websites that could be added on the blacklist twice; p 1 (600 words).

2. Yevgenia Korytina article headlined "Everyone to stay in prison" says a recent vox pop has shown that the majority of Russians are against amnesty for entrepreneurs; p 3 (300 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon article headlined "Peace agreement in African region of Great Lakes should bring dividends" features the UN secretary-general's comments on the current situation in Congo, Rwanda and Uganda; pp 1-2 (700 words).

2. Sergei Manukov article headlined "On British model" says that the latest attack against a serviceman in Paris may have been inspired by a similar attack in Woolwich; p 2 (400 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Yelena Arakelyan article headlined "Officials' salaries grow twice as fast as on average in Russia" analyzes the ranking of Russian officials' highest salaries; p 3 (250 words).

2. Alexander Grishin article headlined "Billion for limousines and parties: That is Rosnano scale" looks at the Audit Chamber's latest check of management efficiency of the Rosnano state corporation; pp 6-7 (1,600 words).

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, May 24, 2012
• What the Papers Say, May 23, 2012
• What the Papers Say, May 22, 2012